From Amelia Island, "1941 Mercury Sedanca de Ville, by Coachcraft Ltd. Underneath this vaguely Lincoln Continental-ish bodywork is a 1941 Mercury ch***is powered by a Merc flathead V-8 upgraded with Eddie Meyer heads and dual carbs. The roof can be removed over either or both front seats, and then the rear portion can be removed as well, for full top-down motoring. It features draft-free ventilation too. It took four months to build at a cost of $6000, for Peter Stengel."
A few old photos from this great Coachcraft ride... Cow-hide interior.... (not sure what kind of interior is in it now though) *******... Note the headlight covers painted body color... a previous color... Motor Trend cover photo...
Early 40's... not quite sure, I don thave my referance material here at work. But I just did find a few more photo's of it. from: http://www.conceptcarz.com
Interesting to see the changes over the years: door hinge, dash, bumper guards, headlights, top covering, upholstery, color.
Since the car is a 1941 Mercury, the earliest it could have been built is in late 1940, right after the introduction of the New Mercury for 1941. Chances are it was built in mid-1941 or even after the War in 1945-48.
When I was a kid in the late '40s, Peter Stengel (the guy who commissioned that car at Coachcraft) rented an apartment from a friend of mine's parents. The car was garaged at that spot. I think I've read that the car was built pre-war, and that there are almost no '41 Merc parts to the body -- just the grilles, really. It belonged to Mark Dees when it was maroon, and was on exhibit at the Petersen for a pretty long time. In its silver paint/blue interior, I don't think it's a faithful restoration of any of its earlier looks, but I think it looks great!
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